StopLurkListen:Big Man On Campus: Actually, this guy has the best point ever made against the Democrats. They're supposed to be social liberals helping to defend and expand our social freedoms. However, outside of Abortion, they just don't give a flying fark. I mean, the U.S. is the only developed nation that basically forbids any women walking around topless, anywhere, and forget about clothing-optional beaches (A common thing in Europe and elsewhere). This is a very basic encroachment of protestant morals onto American freedom, but the Democrats don't care.

There's no Federal law against nudity, and in general nudity on Federal lands (beaches, for instance) results in a request from the park ranger to move to a less conspicuous place, not an arrest.

Also, I'm in San Francisco, and there are nude people in public often. San Francisco is very tolerant of public nudity, probably because of it's Republican Freedom Values.

It's not nudity that's the problem it's modesty because quite frankly, some of you should never be nude in public. Ever.

Big Man On Campus:Actually, this guy has the best point ever made against the Democrats. They're supposed to be social liberals helping to defend and expand our social freedoms. However, outside of Abortion, they just don't give a flying fark. I mean, the U.S. is the only developed nation that basically forbids any women walking around topless, anywhere, and forget about clothing-optional beaches (A common thing in Europe and elsewhere). This is a very basic encroachment of protestant morals onto American freedom, but the Democrats don't care.

caramba421:I absolutely love all this secession business. If every single Red State secedes, the remaining US will still have the world's largest economy, still almost doubling China's. The newly-created Confederate States of Bumfarkistan will end up in 4th place behind China and Japan, but ahead of Germany. Good luck with that one, guys.

Wally007:bmihura: KrispyKritter: i question the mind of one who considers breasts to be obscene. everything of the body is 100% natural. breasts aren't obscene, some peoples minds are obscene. they should have to stand up and explain their minds. i suspect they are in need of psychological counseling. they are deeply damaged people who deserve our help and sympathy.

Oh really? Then why is it against the law in every state to be nude in public? (barring nudist resorts, strip clubs, etc.)

Because our country was founded by the most uptight people ever on the face of the Earth, the Puritans. Remember, they fled England because it was way too liberal...

"

The New England area was settled by the most uptight people ever on the face of the earth, but early america was much more than just that.

Also it has as far as I know been legal for women to walk around bare breasted in every place I have lived in the US, as long as it is not being done for money or sexual gratification.

PluckYew:Maybe it's been said already, I haven't been reading all the secession threads; the people who sign these petitions should be identified publicly so we KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

So says a person posting on Fark using a pseudonym. *slow sarcastic clap*

What you're advocating is retaliation against people seeking redress. (Idiotic as it is in this instance.) But let's take a more immediate example: someone signing a petition to ban a discriminatory workplace practice. Openly signing that petition means that person's employer can retaliate against that person for seeking redress. (Walmart's hostile relationship with their employees comes immediately to mind. Those folks are pretty much up shiat's creek without tangible help.)

We've already seen that certain employers are quite willing to discriminate against people based on their vote (or who their employer thinks they voted for.)

My high school math teacher married his guy a while back (and good for him). He was among the first in Canada to do so when our Supreme Court ruled that the government couldn't stop folks from doing so. But because he was a teacher, the very fact that he had a guy at all was a closely guarded secret until he retired, for what should be obvious reasons. I'm bi. I'm a teacher. I don't (and won't) post publicly on this topic using my real name. Nor could I (or others like me) participate in seeking redress without the threat of misguided retaliation.

Kids who've experienced abuse (or are at risk of abuse) often need to seek redress (by various means) while carefully guarding their identities from even their parents.

So yeah, it's true that jackasses can abuse anonymity, but exposing everybody can have some seriously chilling and detrimental effects.

OooShiny:How did it happen that the New York petition was more misspelled than the Alabama or Mississippi petition:

"Allow New York to Secede from the United State Goverment peacefully and allow it to form it's own government"

Firstly, overall I doubt that the secessionists are highly regarded members of the intellectual elite.

Secondly, I have no doubt that you can find intelligent, erudite and articulate people living in Alabama and Mississippi. You can find abject morons in New York, despite what stereotypes would have you believe.

caramba421:I absolutely love all this secession business. If every single Red State secedes, the remaining US will still have the world's largest economy, still almost doubling China's. The newly-created Confederate States of Bumfarkistan will end up in 4th place behind China and Japan, but ahead of Germany. Good luck with that one, guys.

Not really though. The problem is that a huge part of the South's economy is dependent on defense spending. It's that southern non-union labor that builds our war machine, but it's the blue state economies that pay for it all. If there is a secession, the blue state coalition will move all defense manufacturing out of the south -- possibly revitalizing Detroit and the the steel belt. Meanwhile, the Confederacy will have to engage in massive deficit spending in order to maintain a military.

As much as I'd love the South to just go the fark away, I can't actually support succession. The Confederacy would rapidly turn into our own version of Pakistan. A corrupt, belligerent state with a third world economy that can only maintain order by promulgating hate of its more liberal, more powerful, more successful neighbor - hate which translate into a steady stream of terrorist acts.

And according to the article, his most excellent car wash in the world was shut down in 2001. I'm pretty sure Clinton wouldn't shut down a topless car wash, so I'm thinking maybe... Jimmy Carter? Yeah, I'm pretty sure Jimmy Carter did this.

Look I know my state deserves all the heat and jokes it gets here and other places. It deserves every bit of it and you can throw a dart and hit an idiot or religious nut/zealot somewhere. There used to be several boobie washes in Mobile and the beach areas. I started to use one in Mobile while I was passing through once. I went by one and quickly decided there wasn't even a single boob I wanted to look at there. I also noticed they were mobile and remember wondering how the fark they pulled that off. They weren't showing up at a tourists condo and getting away with that in the parking lot. Can't imagine showing up in a neighborhood and some housewife storming out of the house screaming about the kids seeing some boobies. Anyway I really doubt that picture was taken at his business or any boobie car wash in Alabama. If it really was he wouldn't of been shut down. Lots of customers, sell some beer and bingo-tax revenue and higher business license cost. He would of been fine.Just don't operate to close to a school or a church so the kids, the virginal and the pure of heart and oh, almost forgot the uncorrupted soul, didn't accidently see a boob or the sign and all is well.

One would think that in order for the secession to succeed they would have to have something of value to base their economy on. Should something like that actually happen (doubt it) the US would put heavy taxes on any products coming in from alabamistan and those businesses would leave.

Big Man On Campus:Actually, this guy has the best point ever made against the Democrats. They're supposed to be social liberals helping to defend and expand our social freedoms. However, outside of Abortion, they just don't give a flying fark. I mean, the U.S. is the only developed nation that basically forbids any women walking around topless, anywhere, and forget about clothing-optional beaches (A common thing in Europe and elsewhere). This is a very basic encroachment of protestant morals onto American freedom, but the Democrats don't care.

Yeah, just abortion. Not marriage equality, not voter rights, not collective bargaining, not civil rights, not affirmative action, not help for the working poor, not education. Just abortion.

Besides, all those mean nothing compared to my right to see topless women.

caramba421:I absolutely love all this secession business. If every single Red State secedes, the remaining US will still have the world's largest economy, still almost doubling China's. The newly-created Confederate States of Bumfarkistan will end up in 4th place behind China and Japan, but ahead of Germany. Good luck with that one, guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP

And if the US rewrites trade laws and imposes stiff tariffs on goods imported into the US from Biblestan, good luck sustaining that 4th place status.

Most of the South's industry is due to most of its people being poor and easily -- and willingly -- exploited by corporations.

Nick Nostril:caramba421: I absolutely love all this secession business. If every single Red State secedes, the remaining US will still have the world's largest economy, still almost doubling China's. The newly-created Confederate States of Bumfarkistan will end up in 4th place behind China and Japan, but ahead of Germany. Good luck with that one, guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP

You can source your food from China then. Eat up!

California is the top agriculture-producing State in the Union. Thanks for playing!

caramba421:Nick Nostril: caramba421: I absolutely love all this secession business. If every single Red State secedes, the remaining US will still have the world's largest economy, still almost doubling China's. The newly-created Confederate States of Bumfarkistan will end up in 4th place behind China and Japan, but ahead of Germany. Good luck with that one, guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_GDP

You can source your food from China then. Eat up!

California is the top agriculture-producing State in the Union. Thanks for playing!

Well, sure. Your false liberal "math" may lead you to mistakenly believe that six of the top ten agricultural production states are blue (California, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida). But the RomneyMath -- the kind of knowledge that comes only from your gut -- leads us to the only truth that matters. Conservatives do all the real work, and liberals just yammer on obamaphones all day. When conservatives go galt, all the liberals will starve. This must be true, because we think it's true.

MooseUpNorth:PluckYew: Maybe it's been said already, I haven't been reading all the secession threads; the people who sign these petitions should be identified publicly so we KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

So says a person posting on Fark using a pseudonym. *slow sarcastic clap*

What you're advocating is retaliation against people seeking redress. (Idiotic as it is in this instance.) But let's take a more immediate example: someone signing a petition to ban a discriminatory workplace practice. Openly signing that petition means that person's employer can retaliate against that person for seeking redress. (Walmart's hostile relationship with their employees comes immediately to mind. Those folks are pretty much up shiat's creek without tangible help.)

We've already seen that certain employers are quite willing to discriminate against people based on their vote (or who their employer thinks they voted for.)

My high school math teacher married his guy a while back (and good for him). He was among the first in Canada to do so when our Supreme Court ruled that the government couldn't stop folks from doing so. But because he was a teacher, the very fact that he had a guy at all was a closely guarded secret until he retired, for what should be obvious reasons. I'm bi. I'm a teacher. I don't (and won't) post publicly on this topic using my real name. Nor could I (or others like me) participate in seeking redress without the threat of misguided retaliation.

Kids who've experienced abuse (or are at risk of abuse) often need to seek redress (by various means) while carefully guarding their identities from even their parents.

So yeah, it's true that jackasses can abuse anonymity, but exposing everybody can have some seriously chilling and detrimental effects.

Seeking redress? Where is Jeebus' name are they seeking redress? They're crying because the black man won again.

They are engaging in sedition, nothing you describe is remotely similar.

They have to put a name and location down to sign these "petitions" they aren't anonymous like Fark. I think they should be publicly identified for if nothing else, so we know they don't think things over rationally before SIGNING THEIR NAME to a crazy petition.

PluckYew:They have to put a name and location down to sign these "petitions" they aren't anonymous like Fark. I think they should be publicly identified for if nothing else, so we know they don't think things over rationally before SIGNING THEIR NAME to a crazy petition.

Who, exactly, decides which petitions are too irrational?

/ You either protect them all, even the idiots, or you've created an environment where seeking redress for legitimate, sensitive issues becomes subject to whim or ideology.